Bowling pin elevating apparatus



April 20, 1965 J. D. ELLIOTT BOWLING PIN ELEVATING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1962 INVENTOR JAMES D.ELLIOTT A ITORN EYApril 20, 1965 J. D. ELLIOTT 3,179,410

BOWLING PIN ELEVATING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 29, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z58 I T I Q 1' i 1' Q '1' 571 35 i 5 x 4; 1 3a 50 49 1 45 M 48 iii'w' 'flINVENTOR JAMES D. ELLIOTT ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,179,410BOWLING PIN ELEVATING APPARATUS James D. Elliott, Riverside, Conn.,assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of NewJerse Filed Jan. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 169,225

4 Claims. (Cl. 273-43) ly, the pins are collected at one location,referred to as the receiving station, in the pit and are elevated inrapid succession to a point above the alley bed for discharge tosuitable pin handling means, ordinarily the infeed conveyor of a pinsetting machine. Various types of devices have been proposedheretoforefor elevating the pins from the receiving station in the pit to thedischarge station thereabove, and it has become common practice toemploy elevators comprising means forming a circular channel arranged torotate about a generally horizontal axis in such fashion as to passthrough the locations of the receiving and discharge stations. Anexample of an elevating apparatus of this type is disclosed in US.Patent 2,767,983, issued October 23, 1956, to Holloway et al. v

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved pinelevating wheel which is simple in construction and eflicient inoperation.

Another object is to provide a bowling pin elevator of the rotary typebut which requires no individual clamping means for retaining the pinsin place as they are elevated.

A further object is to provide a bowling pin elevator capable ofoperating .with aminimum of noise. 7 Yet another object is to devise anelevator of the type described whichis so constructed that pins whichare not properly oriented therein fall free, and the pins are freelydischarged after being elevated, so that operation is substantially freefrom jamming.

A still further object is to provide a bowling. pin elevator of thepocketed channel type which has a minimum number of parts and isunusually simple and economical to manufacture. c

In orderthat the manner in which these and other objects are attained inaccordance with the invention can be understood in detail, reference ishad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthisspecification, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a bowling pin elevatorconstructed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

FIGURES 2 and 3 are sectional views taken on lines 22 and 33, FIGURE 1,respectively.

Turning now to the drawings in detail, the embodiment of the inventionhere illustrated is a bowling pin elevator comprising a fixed verticalsheet metal frame 10, extending transversely across the pit P ofthebowling alley installation, The pit is provided with an endless belttype conveyor, indicated generally at 11, the upper run 12 of whichtravels from the front of the pit (not shown), toward the pin elevator.The conveyor extends transversely for essentially the full width of thepit. End roller 13 of the conveyor is positioned close to the elevatorand extends parallel to frame 10. Roller 13 is also closeto the floor ofthe pit, and the conveyor is so constructed that the upper run 12 slantsdownwardly at a small angle from the front of the pit toward theelevator.

Disposed between the delivery end of conveyor 11 and the bottom of frame10 is a transversely extending member 14 which is fixed to the bottom ofthe pit and includes an upper wall 15 which bridges the gap between theend of the conveyor and the elevator. Wall 15 slants downwardly towardthe elevator, being so disposed that bowling pins discharged by theconveyor will travel along the surface of wall 15 and be delivered tothe elevator as hereinafter explained in detail, as the latter passes.

Fixedly mounted each at a different side of the center of the deliveryend of conveyor 11 and extending over upper run 12 of the conveyor are apair of stationary guides or plows 16 arranged to direct bowling pins tothe center portion of the end of the conveyor in order that thepins willall pass over wall 15 to a well defined receiving station S1. (FIGURE1.) One such plow is seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, .the other being omittedfor clarity of illustration of the elevator, and it will be understoodthat the two plows may be generally similar in construction except fortheir opposing shapes and locations. Main guide surfaces 17 of the plowsslant downwardly and forwardly toward the upper run of the conveyor andalso rearwardly toward the middle of the discharge end of the conveyor,and the plows thus guide the pins in a manner familiar to those skilledin the art.

Frame 10 includes a back wall 18 secured to horizontal cross .members 19which are rigidly mounted in any suitable manner to provide support forthe frame. The top of the frame, as viewed from front or back, is ofsemicircular shape and includes a forwardly projecting flange 20 whichis joined to the semi-circular top edge of back wall 18. The ends offlange 20 terminate respectively at the top edges of kickbacks 21 and 22and the entire frame 10 can be secured to the ends of the kickbacks.Thus, the kickbacks can include metal uprights 23 and 24, re-

spectively, the ends of flange 20 being welded thereto at 25 and 26,respectively, and wall 18 being attached to the uprights, as by screwsat 27 and 28, respectively.

Also projecting forwardly from the main back wall 18 of the frame is acirculanring or flange 29, the central axis of which extendshorizontally above the longitudinal center line of conveyor 11 andtherefore above the center of the pin receiving station S1, adjacentwall 15 of bridge member 14. At its top, ring or flange 29 has anarcuate, vertically dependent flange 30 located at the front edge ofring 29 and therefore spaced a material distance forwardly frorn backwall 18. Frame portions 18, 20, 29 and 30 are advantageously formed asan integral unit from .suitable sheet material of such substantialthickness as to afford adequate strength for the frame. The inside ofthis frame may be lined in any suitable manner with sound deadeningmaterial such as auto body undercoating.

Ring 29 and top flange 20 are concentrically disposed andthe radius ofcurvature of the flange is considerably greater than that of the ring,so that there is a substan tialspace between the two. Extending aboutring 29 and concentric therewith is an annular bowling pin elevatingwheel 31 formed from a suitable material, such as sheet metal, as anintegral unit and provided near its periphery with a circularlyextending series of angularly spaced depressions or pockets 32 openingforwardly toward conveyor 11. Wheel 31 can be considered as comprisingan annular flat body portion 33 lying in a plane generally at rightangles to the common central axis of ring 29 and wheel 31, an outerperipheral portion 34 projecting generally forwardly from body portion33, and an inner circular rim including a rearwardly projecting circularedge as .35 spaced only a small distance outwardly from the front edgeof ring 29 and concentric therewith. Radially of wheel 31, pockets 32are of part-circle cross'section and, as best seen in FIGURE 3, theportion of the material forming the center of each pocket, andtheadjacent por tion of outer peripheral portion 34 extend substantiallycircularly with a somewhat greater radius of curvature than that of thelargest portion of the body of a bowling pin, indicated at HP, to beelevated.

As shown in the drawings, and more particularly in FEGURE 1, a pluralityof equidistantly spaced cleats or lugs 94 are mounted on the innerperipheral face of wheel 31. These lugs extend inwardly towards thecenter of wheel 31 and coact with the generally U-shaped'configurationof the cross-section thereof. This arrangement provides the plurality ofequidistantly spaced pockets 32 at the end of which is a space smallerthan maximum diameter and larger than the smallest diameter of a bowlingpin. Thus when pins are delivered into pockets 32 as the result of therotation of wheel 31 they will become seated in their respective pocketswith the butt end or the handle end, as the case may be, located inaspace above mentioned. In this way pins in pockets 32 are preventedfrom sliding downwardly in rotating wheel 31 and can be elevated therebyto discharge station S2 for delivery therefrom.

In the illustrative embodiment at the front of wheel 31, outerperipheral portion 34 slants inwardly toward the central axis, asindicated at 36, and thence curves outwardly, terminating in a radiallyshort, flat, front flange 37 lying in a plane substantially at rightangles to the central'axis of the annular wheel. Portions 36 and 37combine to define an outwardly opening, circularly extending groove toaccommodate a driving belt 38.

Mounted on back wall 18 of the frame and projecting forwardly parallelto the common central axis of ring 29 and wheel 31 are a plurality ofstuds 3% each supporting a freely rotatable, peripherally grooved roller40, rollers being spaced in a circular series disposed concentricallyabout ring 29. A supporting ring 41, in the form of a circularlyextending piece of metal rod or tube of a crosssectional diametermatching the grooves in rollers 40, is rigidly fixed to body portion 33of wheel 31 by a plurality of brackets 42, suitably attached as bywelding, to ring 31. As will be clear from FIGURES 1 and '2, supportingring 41 extends about all of rollers 40, engaging the peripheral grooveof each roller in the manner seen in FIGURE 3. Hence, elevating wheel 31is securely mounted on frame 10 in such fashion as to be kept concentricwith ring 29 but free to rotate about the common 44 and through thebushing 43 are clamped in place by nut 50. Resilient mounting devices 4dand 47 can be similar to those used as motor car engine mounts.

Referring to FIGURES 2. and 3, it will be seen that the distance betweenthe outer surface of arcuate portion and surface 36 of wheel 31 isgreater than the maximurn'diameter of a bowling pin. If, therefore, apin is not properly positioned 'in wheel 31 it may easily fall outofwheel 31 and back onto conveyor 11. The relationship between the severalsurfaces of a bowling pin with a cleat or lug 90, however, is such thata pin properly seated in a pocket 32, and engaged by a cleat or lug 9t)and member 45 will not'fall out of wheel 31, but will be conveyedthereby to discharge station S2.

Pockets 32 are each of such depth, and of such length, circumferentiallyof wheel 31, as to accommodate the entire enlarged body portion of oneof the bowling pins BP. As will be evident from the lower portion ofFIG- URE 2, the bowling pins delivered over wall 15 each come to rest inone of the pockets 32, as during rotation of elevating wheel 31, suchpocket passes through the pin receiving station S1. When the pocket isin this lowermost position, portion 36 of wheel 31 slants upwardly andthe bowling pin is thus held, by gravity, in engagement with thesurfaces of portions 32, 34 and 36, and cleat or lug 90. Suchgravitational retention continues until the pin arrives at the locationof retaining member 43.

From FIGURE 1, it will be seen that member 43 preferably is providedwith a tapered nose 51 at the end thereof directed toward theapproaching bowling pins. The tip of nose 51 is circular and joinedsmoothly to the arcuate body of portion 45 by reason of the fact thatportion 45 is continued completely around the nose, as

indicated by dotted lines at 52, FIGURE 1. Accordingly,

, as wheel 31 rotates and each bowling pin BP seated in a pocket 32thereof is carried upwardly into the range of action of member 43, thepin is moved past nose 51 smoothly between portions 34 and 36 of theelevating 'wheel, on the one hand, and portion 45 of member 43, on

the other. From FIGURE 1, it will be noted that the length of member 43is such that nose 51 is located at a point in the line of travel ofwheel 31 where the bowling driven by a suitable power device (notshown).

When viewed from the front of the apparatus, as in FIGURE 1, arcuateskirt 36 is centered on the vertical diameter of ring 29; Resilientlymounted on skirt 319 is a generally arcuate member 43 formed of asuitable material such as wood, plastic or metal, or a combinationthereof, which coacts with portions of the elevating wheel 31 to retainthe bowling pins in hteir respective seated positions in the pockets inthe elevating wheel. The pin retaining member 43 includes a flat portion44, which lies in'a plane generally parallel to but spaced forwardlyfrom skirt 30, and an arcuate portion 45 which projects rearwardly fromthe arcuate top edge of portion 4-4, so as to be centered on the commoncentral axis of ring 29 and wheel 31. The radial. width of member 43 issuch that portion 45 is normally spaced inwardly from the outerperipheral portion 34 of elevating wheel 31 by a distance which, asexplained hereinafter, is slightly more than the largest diameter ofbowling pins BP.

Member 43 is resiliently attached to skirt 30 by two or more identicalattaching devices 46 and 47, each comprising two studs 48, FIGURE 3,bonded to a resilient block or cylinder 43 of rubber or the like. Thestuds 43 extend through suitable openings in flange 30 and portion pinsare still retained by gravity in their proper positions in the elevatingwheel.

The opposite end of member 43 is spaced from the vertical diameter ofwheel 31 by a substantial distance. A pin feeding chute 53 in theillustrated embodiment is located at discharge station S2 above the,axis of rotation of wheel 31 and one side thereof extends to a pointclosely adjacent, the upper end of member 43. As seen in FIG- URES land2, chute 53 slants downwardly and forwardly from the elevator, thereceiving end 54 of the chute being aligned horizontally with theadjacent end of portion 45 of member 43. Thus, as continued rotation ofwheel 31 carries reach bowling pin beyond member 43, the bowling pinfalls by gravity out of a pocket 32 into chute 53. Adjacent wheel 31 andon the side of chute 53 opposite member 43, chute 53 is equipped with apin-orienting device, such as idler roller 55. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the pins elevated by wheel 31 fallsuccessively onto chute 53, automatically align themselves lengthwisealong the chute, and can be delivered via the chute butt end foremost toa pin spotting machine or other bowling pin handling apparatus (notshown).

Since bowling pins are directed into the elevating wheel, at thereceiving station, without employing special devices for preciselyorienting the pins, and since no clamping means are employed to retainthempositively seated in pockets 32 before the pins are engaged bymember 43, it occasionally happens that a pin may not be seated an angleto the plane of wheel 31, though the butt of the pin is disposed in apocket 32, in which case the pin might wedge or jam against member 43and, therefore, could not be cammed to station S2 for proper dischargeonto chute 53. In most cases of improperly oriented pins, a pin willsimply fail to properly enter the space between member 43 and the outerperipheral portion of wheel 31 and will therefore, fall free, returningto conveyor 11. In this connection, the front of the elevating wheel isfree and open, there being no clamps or other devices to impede escapeof an improperly oriented pin. To provide for rare cases where a pin isnot properly oriented but still engages between portion 45 of member 43and portions 34 and 36 of the elevating wheel, a pin orienting post 56is mounted on portion 44 of member 43 and slants upwardly and forwardlya small distance in front of the'normal line of travel of pins prop erlyoriented in the elevator.

As will be clear from FIGURE 3, the position of post 56 is such that ifthe head or butt end of a pin extends only slightly out of the pocket 32be nudged by post 56 into proper seated position in its pocket 32 inwheel 31 as the latter carries the pin therepast. If, on the other hand,the pin extends outwardly to such a degree that the head or butt endthereof projects forwardly beyond post 56, the projecting portion of thepin will engage the post and, as the wheel 31 continues to rotate, thepin will be twisted completely out of its position between member 43 andthe outer periphery of the ring and will thus be freed to falldownwardly onto conveyor 11.

To assure the best pin guiding action, post 56 is secured to portion 44of member 43 by a resilient mount 57 similar in construction to mounts46 and 47. Thus, post 56 is allowed some degree of movement relative tomember 43 but is always returned to its normal position by its resilientmounting device. The resilient mounting of post 56 also insures thateven if an improperly positioned pin should strike it a full or aglancing blow, post 56 would yield and so a jam could not occur. If suchpin is not ejected from the wheel by this action, it will be orientedand consigned to discharge station S2.

At its end adjacent chute 53, the pin retaining member 43 is equippedwith a pin ejecting guide member 58 of such shape and so located that,as the bowling pins run off the end of member 43, guide member 58 willassure that the pins are properly directed onto the downwardly andforwardly sloping surface of chute 53. As seen in FIGURE 3, member 53 isan arcuately extending rod, fixed at its lower end to portion 44 ofmember 43 at a point near the end of member 43 and also near portion 45.Member 4% curves forwardly and upwardly, so as to extend loosely aboutthat portion of each pin which is not effectively embraced by thecombination of portions 32, 34 and 35 of wheel 31, and portion 45 ofmember 43.

A pin deflector designated generally 92 operates to deflect pins whichmay fall out of wheel 32 back into the pit, and presents possible jams.As shown in 'FIG- URES l and 2, deflector 92 comprises an invertedsubstantially vertical hair-pin shaped rod 94 suitably attached to plow17.

While a particularly advantageous embodiment has been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent that various changes and modificationscan be made without departing from the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bowling pin elevating apparatus, the combination of an uprightframe; and elevator in the form of an annular channel having radiallyinwardly projecting 1ongitudinally spaced sides, said elevator beingmounted on said frame for rotation about the central axis of saidannular channel with said axis being at least generally horizontal, saidelevator comprising means defining at least one bowlingpin-accommodating pocket, said pocket extending chordwise of a circlecentered on said axis and opening both inwardly toward said axis andaxially at one side of said elevator, rotation of said elevator aboutsaid axis in one direction causing said pocket to move first through alower, pin-receiving station, thence outwardly and upwardly to anintermediate position, in which a bowling pin occupying said pocket willtend to fall therefrom, and thence to an elevated, pin dischargestation, said frame including a cylindrical guard ring projectingthrough said elevator, said frame also including a flange dependent froman end of said guard ring; a pin-retaining member mounted on said flangeand projecting upwardly therefrom, said pin-retaining member comprisingan upwardly facing arcuate pin-engaging surface extending substantiallyfrom said intermediate position to said discharge station and disposedconcentrically with the circular path of travel of said pocket, theradial distance between said arcuate pin-engaging surface and theadjacent portion of the path of travel of said pocket being such that abowling pin carried upwardly in said pocket comes into engagement withsaid arcuate pin-engaging surface at said intermediate position and thenrides along said arcuate pin-engaging surface, being thus retained insaid pocket until arriving at said discharge station; and drive meansconnected to said elevator to rotate the same in said one direction.

2. A, bowling pin elevating apparatus in accordance with claim 1 andwherein said pin-retaining member comprises a fiat main body lying atright angles to the axis of rotation of said elevator, and a portionintegral with said main body and projecting at right angles thereto,said portion extending arcuately to provide said pinengaging surface.

3. In a bowling pin elevating apparatus, the combination of an uprightframe; an elevator in the form of an annular channel having radiallyinwardly projecting longitudinally spaced sides, said elevator beingmounted on said frame for rotation about the central axis of saidannular channel with said axis being at least generally horizontal, saidelevator comprising means defining at least one bowlingpin-accommodating pocket, said pocket extending chordwise of a circlecentered on said axis and opening both inwardly toward said axis andaxially at one side of said elevator, rotation of said elevator aboutsaid axis in one direction causing said pocket to move first through alower, pin-receiving station, thence outwardly and upwardly to anintermediate position, in which a bowling pin occupying said pocket willtend to fall therefrom, and thence to an elevated, pin dischargestation, said frame including a cylindrical guard ring projectingthrough said elevator, said frame also including a flange dependent froman end of said guard ring; a pin-retaining member comprising a fiat mainbody and an arcuate portion integral with said main body and projectingat right angles thereto; means mounting said pinretaining member on saidflange with said fiat main body extending generally parallel to saidflange and said arcuate portion facing upwardly and extendingsubstantially from said intermediate position to said discharge stationand disposed concentrically with the circular path of travel of saidpocket, said means mounting said pinretaining member on said flangebeing operative to allow said pin-retaining member to shift inwardly,the radial distance between said arcuate portion of said pinengagingmember and the adjacent portion of the path of travel of said pocketbeing such that a bowling pin carried upwardly in said pocket comes intoengagement with said arcuate portion at said intermediate position andthen rides along said arcuate portion, being thus retained in saidpocket until arriving at said discharge station; and drive meansconnected to said elevator to 1'0- tate the same in said one direction.

4. In a bowling pin elevating apparatus, the combination of frame meanscomprising an upright structure, and a cylindrical guard ring secured tosaid upright structure and projecting therefrom with the axis of saidguardring at least generally horizontally disposed; an elevatorcomprising an annular structure defining at least one bowlingpin-receiving pocket which extends chordwise of the annular structureand opens both inwardly toward the center of the annular structure andaxially at one side of said annular structure; means mounting saidelevator on said frame means with said guard ring projecting throughsaid annular structure and said annular structure supported for rotationat least generally about the axis of said guard ring, said guard ringhaving an end portion surrounded by said annular structure; apin-retaining memberhaving a fiat main body portion and an arcuatepin-engaging surface; means mounting said pinretaining member on saidend portion of said guard ring with said main body portion extendingtransversely of said guard ring and said arcuate pin-engaging surfaceconcentric with the axis of said guard ring, rotation of said elevatorin one direction causing said pocket to move first through a lower,pin-receiving station, thence outwardly and upwardly to an intermediateposition in which bowling pins occupying said pocket will tend to falltherefrom, and thence to an elevated, pin-discharge station, saidarcuate pin-engaging surface extending substantially from saidintermediate position .to said discharge station, said arcuatepin-engaging surface being spaced inwardly from the path of travel ofsaid pocket by a distance such that a bowling pin carried upwardly insaid pocket comesinto engagement with said pin-engaging surface at saidintermediate position and then rides along said pin-engaging surface,being thus retained in said pocket until arriving at said dischargestation; and drive means connected to said elevator to rotate the samein said one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GrussJan. 16, 1962

1. IN A BOWLING PIN ELEVATING APPARATUS, THE COMBINATION OF AN UPRIGHTFRAME; AND ELEVATOR IN THE FORM OF AN ANNULAR CHANNEL HAVING RADIALLYINWARDLY PROJECTING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED SIDES, SAID ELEVATOR BEINGMOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR ROTATION ABOUT THE CENTRAL AXIS OF SAIDANNULAR CHANNEL WITH SAID AXIS BEING AT LEAST GENERALLY HORIZONTAL, SAIDELEVATOR COMPRISING MEANS DEFINING AT LEAST ONE BOWLINGPIN-ACCOMMODATING POCKET, SAID POCKET EXTENDING CHORDWISE OF A CIRCLECENTERED ON SAID AXIS AND OPENING BOTH INWARDLY TOWARD SAID AXIS ANDAXIALLY AT ONE SIDE OF SAID ELEVATOR, ROTATION OF SAID ELEVATOR ABOUTSAID AXIS IN ONE DIRECTION CAUSING SAID POCKET TO MOVE FIRST THROUGH ALOWER, PIN-RECEIVING STATION, THENCE OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLY TO ANINTERMEDIATE POSITION, IN WHICH A BOWLING PIN OCCUPYING SAID POCKET WILLTEND TO FALL THEREFROM, AND THENCE TO AN ELEVATED, PIN DISCHARGESTATION, SAID FRAME INCLUDING A CYLINDRICAL GUARD RING PROJECTINGTHROUGH SAID ELEVATOR, SAID FRAME ALSO INCLUDING A FLANGE DEPENDENT FROMAN END OF SAID GUARD